Our Very Own American Idol

I love this kid. So much. She brightens my day, even if I'm stressed about little things, like our house being built, for example.



Yes, she is singing along to "The Little Mermaid". Be still, my heart.

Donut Falls

On Saturday, we decided to take advantage of this beautiful November weather by driving a bit up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiking to Donut Falls. It was really fun and so dang pretty. Hayden was a trooper and even hiked half the time by herself. She never once complained about anything! Maybe we have our little adventure/outdoors girl after all!

The beginning of the hike was paved, but once we got to the rough stuff we had to stash the stroller in the bushes and Hayden was on her own!

Hayden has an obsession with rocks, so imagine her delight when our whole hike was full of not just little rocks but BIG rocks she could sit and rest on.

It was really muddy and snowy in some parts of the trail, so we got nice and dirty.
We found 3 caches along our way to Donut falls. Isn't Hayden such a big help?
Our little hiker.
We even saw 3 moose!! Yes, 3!!! I WISH I could have taken a picture of all 3 at the same time, but they were moving too much for me to get a good shot. Awesome!


We made it to our destination.

Of course pictures don't do it justice, but it was so pretty! It's called Donut Falls because at the top the water falls through a hole in a rock that supposedly looks kind of like a donut. Yummy :)

We hiked up around to the top to get a view of the "donut" .

On our way down, Hayden was so exhausted, she passed out on Carl's shoulder. She did soooo well!

It was so much fun and we were wiped out when we got home, but it was worth it. It's fun to get out and explore this beautiful country that we live in. Thank you, November, for being so beautiful so far.

House Update

Remember, a couple posts ago, with the pictures of the foundation on Oct. 31?

Here is a new update!

As of November 5:

Who's the cute house model?


From the entry way. Obviously it's hard to tell what is what inside at this point, but this gives you an idea.

Shot of the living room and garage

The basement great room
and a shot of the future rooms downstairs

Anyway, it's exciting for us. If I could, I would probably just sit and watch them build it all day. Pretty pathetic! :)

Ella the Wonder Dog!

I ran across this gem as I was looking through my pictures today, and it made me laugh. Out loud. I remember writing THIS POST a long time ago and I'm wondering why I didn't put this video with it. I think I was having uploading problems....

Anyway, it's about Ella and eating. I realize I look a little, ummm, greasy or what not, but just try to look past that:) I'll blame it on the fact that I had just had Hayden...2 months earlier:) Yea, that's a good excuse, right?

ENJOY!

Oh Great

We're in the "MINE" phase.
I guess everything belongs to Hayden now.
I don't even know where she learned that word.
I guess it's time to really focus on sharing.
Here's to teaching our children manners!

Happy November

It's November, and it's a BEAUTIFUL day! I'm just trying to soak it all in before winter really hits. Plus, it's perfect weather for building a house!

Here it is, the foundation from the front
(as of Oct. 31)

and from the back

It's looking pretty good so far. I can't wait to see the rest!

We even had beautiful weather for Halloween last night, too!

Carl and Hayden at the trunk or treat

Hayden was tired and her pumpkin was too heavy for her to lift, so she's resting.

Our hot dog

And this is Hayden after an abundance of candy:

Hope you had a great Halloween and a wonderful Sunday!

Sneak Peek

What our Halloween looks like:
BYU had their annual Halloween carnival so we went to check it out tonight. Hayden was a cute princess, of course, and scored some candy and toys. Pretty successful if you ask me.

Goin' Fishin'
Decorating a Pumpkin
Throwing Rings
And Hayden's favorite, the bouncy slide

Also, as you may know, my birthday was earlier this week and my very loving husband decided it was time I had a new wardrobe. He came up with the brilliant idea of actually having Heather, his sister, help out with the clothes shopping because she is all knowing in that area. I must say, BRAVO! Thank you for helping my husband put some much needed new clothes on my back.

Fashion Show! Fashion Show!

Check out the boots....LOVE THEM! Everything I am wearing is new, including the jewelry. I sure do love Forever 21! Cute clothes for cheap prices. (The outfit I have on in the BYU carnival pictures is also new for my birthday.) Thank you Carl! You always know how to make me laugh and smile!

Our good friend Kathryn came by and brought the pizza, so we didn't have to cook! Yea for her! I sure do love you, Kaf!
I am so grateful for such a wonderful family and such great friends who love me! I love you all, too! Thank you for your thoughts and love on my special day!

AND LASTLY... A peek at my Halloween project! It is pretty much done, I just need to sew on the thing that it hangs from. Me and my friend Wendy from across the hall would work on this everyday while the kids were napping. It was a lot of fun! I'm still no pro, but it turned out pretty good! At least Carl likes it. Just don't look too closely at the stitching:)

The (almost) finished product!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!